Curriculum Vitae

Education

PhD - Politics & International Affairs | University of South Florida | 2023
Specializations: Politics of Development / International Security
Dissertation: “Violence, Rents, and Elites: Institutional Determinants of Political Order in Ethiopia, Rwanda, and South Sudan”
Committee: Steven C. Roach (major advisor); Jongseok Woo; Earl Conteh-Morgan; John Ishiyama

MA - Diplomacy & International Commerce | Norwich University | 2019

BA - Political Science, International Politics | Washington University in St. Louis | 2013

Honors and Awards

• Governing Deep Differences Grant, Center for Governance and Markets, 2024-25.

• Faculty Development Grant, Israel Institute, 2023-24.

• Research and Travel Grant, West Texas A&M University, 2023-24.

• Adam Smith Fellowship, Mercatus Center at George Mason University, 2022-23.

• Humane Studies Fellowship, Institute for Humane Studies, 2022, 2023.

• Travel Grant, Institute for Humane Studies, 2023.

• Travel Grant, Association for the Study of Middle East and Africa, 2023.

• Research Grant, Association for the Study of Middle East and Africa, 2022.

• Hayek Fund for Scholars, Institute for Humane Studies, 2021, 2022.

• Distinction, PhD Comprehensive Examinations, University of South Florida, 2021.

• Conference Travel Grant, University of South Florida, 2020, 2022.

• University Graduate Fellowship, University of South Florida, 2019-20.

Publications

Books

Roach, S., Hudson, D., and Demerew, K. (eds.) Nile Basin Politics: From Coordinated to Cooperative Peace. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. (forthcoming)

Violence, Elites, and Institutions: State-building and Political Development in Africa. (under contract with SUNY Press)

Journal Papers (Peer Reviewed)

2024. “Can Institutions Explain Mass Violence? Amhara 'Settler' Discourse and Ethiopia’s Ethnic Federalism.” Nations and Nationalism 30(3), 493-509. DOI: 10.1111/nana.13004.

2024. “Contractualism in Post-Colonial State-Building: A Liberal Approach to Sovereignty and Governmentality.” Review of Austrian Economics. DOI: 10.1007/s11138-024-00640-8.

2024. “Institutional Logic of Fragile States: Afghanistan and South Sudan in Comparative Perspective.” Journal of the Middle East and Africa 15(4), 371-395. DOI: 10.1080/21520844.2024.2415182. (with A. Murid Partaw)

2023. “College Diversity Politics and American Higher Education: An Institutional Analysis.” Society, 60, 983-993. DOI: 10.1007/s12115-023-00911-3.

2022. “Realist Perspectives on Nile Politics: Conflict and Cooperation Between Ethiopia and Egypt.” African Security 15(3), 213-236. DOI: 10.1080/19392206.2022.2081763.

2022. “Elites, Rents, and Transitions: A New Institutionalist View of Ethiopia’s Political Development.” Africa Today 68(3), 65-86. DOI: 10.2979/africatoday.68.3.04. 

2021. “From Red Sea to the Nile: Water, Power, and Politics in Northeast Africa.” Third World Quarterly 42(12), 2883-2901. DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2021.1977622. 

Book Chapters

Demerew, K. “Blockchain Contractualism as Modus Vivendi: A Praxis for Reconfiguring Post-Colonial State-building.” In Dragos, P. and Murtazashvili, J. Governing Differences: Social Diversity, Polycentric Political Economy and Modus Vivendi. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. (forthcoming)

Demerew, K. “State-building on the Nile: Domestic Politics and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.” In Roach, S., Hudson, D., and Demerew, K. Nile Basin Politics: From Coordinated to Cooperative Peace. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. (forthcoming)

Demerew, K., and Hudson, D. “Beyond the Big Three: the National and Regional Politics of the other Riparian Countries.” In Roach, S., Hudson, D., and Demerew, K. Nile Basin Politics: From Coordinated to Cooperative Peace. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. (forthcoming)

Book Reviews

2024. Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia by Nigusie Kassaye W. Michael. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2023. Africa Today 70(4), 109-111. DOI: 10.2979/at.0018.

Working Papers

Demerew, K., Faboye, S., and Edodi, S. “Toward Polycentric Federalism: Assessing Federal Institutional Design in Multiethnic African States.” Under Review.

Works In Progress

Contracting the State: Economic Freedom and Self-Governance in Africa. (Proposal stage)

Teaching Experience

West Texas A&M University
Assistant Professor (2023 - Present)

• Comparative Politics (POSC 3360)

• Middle Eastern Politics (POSC 4379)

• International Relations (POSC 4370)

• American National Government (POSC 2305)

University of South Florida
Instructor (2021 - 2023)

• Conflict in the World (INR 4083)

• Intro to Comparative Politics (CPO 2002)

• Intro to International Relations (INR 2002)

Teaching Assistant (2019 - 2021)

• Globalization (INR 3011)

• Rwanda Beyond Genocide: The Politics of Justice & Development (POS 3931)

Concordia University Texas
Adjunct Faculty (2019 - 2022)

• Leadership Theory & Practice (LDR 2201)

• Leadership & Career Capstone (LDR 4101)

Research Experience

University of South Florida School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies

Research Assistant, Steven C. Roach, Ph.D., June-Aug. 2020; Jan-Mar. 2022

• Provided editorial and writing assistance for course book International Relations: Key Concepts.

• Assisted with a USAID-funded Democracy, Human Rights & Governance (DRG) assessment report for South Sudan.

Washington University, Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, & Public Policy

Research Assistant, Hong Min Park, Ph.D., May to Sept. 2013

• Researched and categorized data for book project Politics Over Process: Partisan Conflict and Post-Passage Processes in the U.S. Congress

Presentations

• Manuscript Workshop (by invitation), “ Configuring Polycentric Federalism to Ethnically Diverse Societies in Africa.” Free Market Institute. Texas Tech University. September 2024.

• Manuscript Workshop (by invitation), “Blockchain Contractualism: New Paradigms of Identity and Governance in Diverse Polities.” Governing Deep Differences: Modus Vivendi, Polycentricity, and Governance Systems. Center for Governance and Markets. University of Pittsburgh. February 2024.

• Conference Paper,  “Institutions, Discourse, and Violence: The “Amhara Settler” Trope in Ethiopia's Ethnic Federalism.” Sixteenth Annual ASMEA Conference. Association for the Study of the Middle East & Africa. Washington, D.C. November 2023.

• Reading Workshop (by invitation), Governing Deep Differences in a Time of Crisis: Modus Vivendi, Polycentrism, and Institutional Diversity. Center for Governance and Markets at the University of Pittsburgh. July 2023.

• Panel Speaker (by invitation), “Elites, Violence, and Rents: Institutional Determinants of Political (In)Stability in the Horn.” Efforts and Initiatives by Third Parties to Secure Peace and Stability in the Horn of Africa: Assessment of Roles and Interests. Trends Research and Advisory. Abu Dhabi, UAE, November 2022.

• Conference Paper,  “Institutional Logic of Fragile States: Afghanistan and South Sudan in Comparative Perspective.” Fifteenth Annual ASMEA Conference. Association for the Study of the Middle East & Africa. Washington, D.C. November 2022.

• Workshop, “Africa and the New Institutionalism: Rents, Violence, and Elite Constraints and Incentives.”  17th Workshop on New Institutionalism (NIW), Madrid, Spain, March 2022.

• Lecture (by invitation), “Economics & Power in the International System.” Course: Why We Fight and How We Fight U.S. Wars (General Tom Draude), January 2022.

• Conference Paper, “Rethinking African Sovereignty, Again: Beyond Governmentality and Critical Theory.” Southeast Regional Seminar in African Studies (SERSAS), October 2021.

• Conference Paper, “Conceptual Perspectives on Nile Politics and the GERD.” Midwestern Political Science Association (MPSA), 2021.

• Lecture (Invited), “Ethiopia’s Transitions and Contemporary Africa: Challenges and Opportunities.” Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College (ASPEC), 2020.

• Conference Paper, “The Role of Systems Thinking and Qualitative Assessment in Reorienting Development Practice.” Interdisciplinary Symposium on Qualitative Methodologies, 2020.

• Conference Presentation, “Participatory and Interventionist Approaches to International Development: Lessons from Institutional Transitions in Ethiopia.” Community Colleges for International Development (CCID), 2020.

Service to Profession

• Peer Reviewer (Nov. 2021 to Present)

  • • Policy Studies (1 manuscript)

    • Journal of Asian and African Studies (3 manuscripts)

    • Cogent Social Sciences (1 manuscript)

    • Africa Today (1 manuscript)

• PhD Commencement Speaker, University of South Florida (Spring 2023).

• Student Representative, USF Graduate Council (Sept. 2020 to May 2021)

  • • Helped write and pass new policy guidelines for Holistic Admissions; evaluated Fellowship applicants.

Media Engagement

• Op-ed. 26 July 2024. “Hope for the Middle East: American universities have a role.” Dallas Morning News. https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/07/26/hope-for-the-middle-east-american-universities-have-a-role.

• Local TV Interview. 11 Sept 2023. “Professors analyze how 9/11 attack impacts political landscape.” KFDA News Channel 10. https://www.newschannel10.com/2023/09/12/professors-analyze-how-911-attack-impacts-political-landscape.  

Professional Affiliations

• Southern Political Science Association (SPSA)

• Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA)